The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Pennisetum alopecuroides herein referred to as ‘Tift PA18’.
The new Pennisetum alopecuroides is a product of a planned research, evaluation, and testing program conducted by the Inventors in Tifton, Ga. The objective of the Pennisetum alopecuroides research program is to create a new plant cultivar with reduced seed production. This cultivar is commercially important for its superior ornamental value and low seed production. These and other qualities are enumerated herein.
Pedigree and history: We evaluated four unpatented morphologically variable accessions maintained at Tifton, Ga. for ornamental potential: ‘Tift PS989’, ‘Tift PS990’, ‘Tift PS1122’, and ‘Tift PS1123’. ‘Tift PS989’ and ‘Tift PS1122’ were selected as accessions with the most ornamental potential. Pennisetum alopecuroides accessions and cultivars are known to produce abundant seed. Seed production in commercial ornamental cultivars of Pennisetum alopecuroides tends to make this genus/species invasive, an undesirable trait in landscapes. Seeds from open pollinated ‘Tift PS1122’ plants were irradiated on 11 Nov. 2010 with 20 Kr of Cobalt 60 gamma radiation. These irradiated seeds were planted to produce a first group of plants. In 2011, this first group of plants were evaluated and eight of these first group of plants were selected. These eight plants were selected as morphologically desirable ornamental genotypes with reduced seed set. Open pollinated seeds were harvested from these eight plants. These seeds from the eight selected plants were re-irradiated on 10 Jan. 2012 with 10 Kr of Cobalt 60 radiation. Only three of the eight plants produced seed that survived this second irradiation. The surviving seed from the three plants were planted to produce 142 plants, numbered consecutively from 1 to 142, that were grown in adjacent rows in a field. These 142 plants were allowed to open pollinate. Irradiation of seeds usually results in chineras or sectors on the plants for the trait of interest. Therefore, each of the 142 plants was divided into four quadrants or sectors (a, b, c, and d) and five or more inflorescences from each quadrant were examined for seed sterility. Sector “a” of plant number 137 (137a) was highly seed sterile and was selected in 2012, and was asexually propagated, to produce ‘Tift PA18’. ‘Tift PA18’ has been tested at Tifton, Ga. and Blairsville, Ga. from 2012 thru 2015. Tests consisted of five and four single plant replications arranged in a randomized complete block experiment at Tifton, Ga. and Blairsville, Ga., respectively. Seven other experimental entries were included in each test. Tift ‘Tift PA24’ (unpatented) was selected as a seed fertile check with desirable ornamental characteristics from Tift PS1122. Tift ‘Tift PA24’ also produced abundant pollen for pollinating the experimental seed sterile cultivars in the replicated tests to make sure that the experimental sterile cultivars would not set seed when pollinated with pollen from another genotype.
Asexual reproduction of the new Pennisetum ‘Tift PA18’ by vegetative propagation (single stem propagules) in a controlled environment in Tifton, Ga. in 2012, 2014 and 2015 and in Blairsville, Ga. from 2012 through 2015, has shown that the unique features of this new Pennisetum cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.